Does Missouri have a real estate transfer tax?
No, and it can’t easily get one. Missouri has no statewide deed tax, and in November 2010 voters adopted Article X, Section 25 of the Missouri Constitution. It says the state, counties and other political subdivisions are prevented from imposing any new tax, including a sales tax, on the sale or transfer of homes or any other real estate.
That language covers apartment buildings, commercial property and land, not only houses. It also covers cities, so St. Louis and Kansas City can’t add a local transfer tax the way Philadelphia, Chicago or Washington, D.C. do. Changing it would take another constitutional amendment approved by voters.
For a seller, the result is simple. Whether your building sells for $800,000 or $8,000,000, the transfer tax line on the settlement statement is zero.
What Missouri charges at recording
Missouri recorders of deeds charge by the page. Section 59.310 RSMo sets the base fee at $5 for the first page and $3 for each page after, and other statutes add fixed amounts to the first page for things like technology and preservation funds. The total varies by county.
Jackson County, which includes most of Kansas City, lists $23 for the first page and $3 for each additional page for documents recorded on or after August 28, 2026. Boone County lists $26 for the first page of a standard document and $51 for a non-standard one, plus $3 per additional page. A four-page deed in Jackson County comes to $32.
Format matters more than price here. Pages that don’t meet the standard size and margin rules can push a deed into the non-standard fee, so let your title company prepare the final deed.
Who pays closing costs on a Missouri sale?
With no transfer tax to assign, the purchase contract decides every closing cost. On a Missouri apartment sale, the seller generally pays to deliver clear title: the loan payoff, any prepayment penalty, release recording fees and the cost of fixing title defects. The buyer generally pays for its own loan, survey, inspections and the recording of its deed and mortgage.
Owner’s title insurance, escrow fees and closing fees are often split or negotiated. Read that section of the contract with the same care you’d give the price, because in Missouri it is where the closing costs are decided. On an apartment building, also check how the contract handles rent prorations, tenant security deposits and the current year’s property tax, which are often larger than every recording and title charge combined.
LLC transfers, gifts, foreclosures and 1031 exchanges
Because Missouri has no transfer tax, it has no controlling-interest tax and no list of exemptions to fit into. Here is what that means for common investor moves:
- Deeding a building into an LLC you own, or out of it, costs only the recording fee.
- Selling the membership interests of an LLC that owns the building owes no transfer tax.
- Gifts, transfers to heirs and beneficiary deeds pay only recording fees.
- Foreclosure deeds and deeds in lieu of foreclosure owe no transfer tax.
- A 1031 exchange sale owes no transfer tax on the Missouri side, though a replacement property in another state may.
Worked example: a $2M and $5M Missouri apartment sale
Take a 28-unit building in Kansas City, in Jackson County, sold for $2,000,000 with a four-page deed. Missouri transfer tax is $0. Recording the deed costs $23 for the first page plus $9 for the next three, or $32. The seller’s real costs are its loan payoff and the closing items in the contract.
Across the state lines, the same $2,000,000 sale would owe transfer tax in five of Missouri’s neighbors: about $3,199 in Iowa, $3,000 in Oklahoma, $6,600 in Arkansas, $6,640 in Nebraska and $7,400 in Tennessee.
At $5,000,000, Missouri is still $0. Iowa would charge about $7,999, Oklahoma $7,500, Arkansas $16,500, Nebraska $16,600 and Tennessee $18,500.
| State | Rate | $2M sale | $5M sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri | None | $0 | $0 |
| Iowa | $0.80 per $500 above first $500 | $3,199 | $7,999 |
| Oklahoma | $0.75 per $500 (0.15%) | $3,000 | $7,500 |
| Arkansas | $3.30 per $1,000 (0.33%) | $6,600 | $16,500 |
| Nebraska | $3.32 per $1,000 (0.332%) | $6,640 | $16,600 |
| Tennessee | $0.37 per $100 (0.37%) | $7,400 | $18,500 |
Missouri compared with neighboring states: who pays
The rates above come from each state’s statute, and so does the payer in several cases. Nebraska puts its documentary stamp tax on the grantor executing the deed, and its rate of $3.32 per $1,000 runs through 2031 before dropping to $2.32. Tennessee puts its 0.37% on the grantee. Arkansas assigns the $2.20 portion of its $3.30 rate to the purchaser.
For a Missouri owner exchanging into another state, the buy-side rule matters. Buying a $5,000,000 replacement building in Nashville or Memphis means $18,500 of Tennessee transfer tax on you as the buyer. Exchanging into another Missouri building avoids that line entirely.
Missouri’s capital gains subtraction
Missouri added a second reason sellers like the state. Under section 143.121 RSMo, as changed by House Bill 594 in 2025, individuals can subtract 100% of their federally reported capital gains from Missouri income, starting with the 2025 tax year. You claim it on Form MO-A with your MO-1040. Capital losses don’t qualify.
Who owns the building matters. The Department of Revenue says trusts and fiduciaries are not eligible, and neither are pass-through entities that pay Missouri’s pass-through entity tax. Corporations aren’t eligible yet; they would be once the top individual rate falls to 4.5% or lower, and it is 4.7% for 2025.
On a $1,000,000 federal capital gain that would otherwise be taxed at Missouri’s 4.7% top rate, the subtraction is worth about $47,000. How depreciation recapture is treated depends on how it is reported on your federal return, so have your CPA confirm the figure for your sale.
Why sellers still care: property tax after the sale
Missouri doesn’t tax the transfer, but buyers still look hard at the property tax bill they will inherit. Section 137.016 RSMo classes structures used for residential living, including buildings with five or more dwelling units, as residential property. Section 137.115 assesses residential property at 19% of true value, compared with 32% for commercial property.
Assessors set new values as of January 1 of each odd-numbered year, and those values carry into the following even year. A buyer paying $2,000,000 will model what happens if the next reassessment moves your building toward that price, which at 19% would mean $380,000 of assessed value. Bring your last two tax bills and the current assessment notice to the table.
Federal taxes and a 1031 exchange
With no transfer tax and, for many individuals, no state tax on capital gains, the federal side is where a Missouri seller’s tax bill sits. Federal capital gains tax, depreciation recapture at up to 25% on the unrecaptured portion and the 3.8% net investment income tax still apply.
A 1031 exchange can defer those federal taxes. Seller financing can spread the gain over the years you collect principal through an installment sale. Both are worth comparing on a Missouri building, since the state side may already be close to zero.
The capital gains subtraction changes the math on an exchange. In many states, a 1031 exchange defers a large state tax as well as the federal one. For a Missouri individual who qualifies for the subtraction, the exchange mainly defers federal tax. That doesn’t make exchanges less useful, but it does make a taxable sale or a seller-carry sale worth pricing out next to one.
A seller-carry note secured by a deed of trust is recorded at the same page-based fees as a deed, so financing part of the price adds very little in government charges at closing. The terms you negotiate, such as rate, amortization and balloon date, matter far more than the recording cost.
Selling your Missouri apartment building to Skyline
Skyline Capital Investments buys apartment buildings with five or more units across Missouri, including St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia and Joplin. We buy directly, can offer seller-carry terms, and can work inside a 1031 timeline.
Send the address and unit count through the form on this page, or call (469) 660-2977. We typically respond within 48 hours, and we’ll lay out your payoff, title and recording costs so your net is clear before you sign.
